Expanded look into overdose crisis shows link to mental health

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Sep 27, 2018Art Aronson

The B.C. Coroners Service says of the 872 completed investigations of overdose deaths recorded in 2016 and 2017, more than half had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder or had evidence of being mentally ill.

The service says the number of completed investigations represents about a third of the more than 25-hundred overdose deaths during that time.

More than 34-hundred deaths from overdoses have been recorded in B.C. since January of 2016.

The service has also released updated findings for August showing there were 98 suspected illegal drug overdoses — down 20 per cent from August of last year.